Bovine mastitis is an inflammation of the udder in dairy cows that can range from subclinical to clinical. It is primarily caused by bacterial infections that enter through the teat canal. Mastitis has significant economic impacts on dairy farms through reduced milk production and quality. Proper milking procedures and hygiene are critical to mastitis prevention. A 10 step program including teat dipping, equipment maintenance, and monitoring somatic cell counts can help control mastitis on dairy farms.

1. Bovine Mastitis

2. What’s mastitis ?
Inflammation of one or more quarters of
the udder
Normal
Inflamed
Mammae = breast
-itis = Latin suffix for
inflammation
Swelling
pain
warm
redness

3. What’s the significance of bovine
mastitis ?
The most
costly
disease
affecting
dairy dairy
cattle
throughout
the world
Causes significant economic losses
to the dairy industry in the US
$ 200/cow/year
$ 2 billion/year
cull
RIP

4. What are the health concerns
of mastitis ?
Animal health
Loss of functional quarter
Lowered milk production
Death of cow
Human health
Poor quality milk
antibiotic residues in milk

5. How severe can mastitis be ?
Subclinical Mastitis
Clinical Mastitis
~ 90 -95% of all mastitis cases
~ 5 - 10% of all mastitis cases
Udder appears normal
Inflamed udder
Milk appears normal
Clumps and clots in milk
Elevated SCC (score 3-5)
Acute type
Lowered milk output (~ 10%)
Longer duration
major type of clinical mastitis
bad milk
loss of appetite
depression
prompt attention needed
Chronic type
bad milk
cow appears healthy

6. What causes mastitis ?
Bacteria ( ~ 70%)
Yeasts and molds ( ~ 2%)
Unknown ( ~ 28%)
physical
trauma
weather extremes

7. Where do these organisms
come from ?
Infected udder
Environment
bedding
soil
water
manure
Replacement animals

8. BACTERIA
Streptococci
Field
language
“Streps”
“Environmentals”
“Environmental
Strep”
Environmental
S. uberis
S. dysgalactiae
S. equinus
More subclinical
mastitis
Environment
Predominant early
and late lactation
Contagious
S. agalactiae
Clinical mastitis
Cannot live outside
the udder
Treated easily with
penicillin

9. BACTERIA
Staphylococci
Field
language
“Staph”
“Staph.
Mastitis”
Staph. aureus
Summer mastitis
Spread by milking equipment and milker’s hands
Persistent, difficult to eliminate
If unattended leads to chronic mastitis
Other Staph
Found normally on skin
Lowers milk yield
Elevated SCC
Easily responds to antibiotics
Relapse frequently seen

10. BACTERIA
Coliforms
Groups of organisms
E. coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter
Environmental source (manure,
bedding, barns, floors and cows)
J-5 vaccine
Coliforms cause acute clinical mastitis
high temp, and inflamed quarter
watery milk with clots and pus
toxemia

11. Other organisms
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
outbreaks of clinical mastitis
Serratia
outbreaks of clinical mastitis
Corynebacterium pyogenes
Fungi
Candida
Mycoplasma bovis

12. How does mastitis develop ?
Cow
Predisposing conditions
Organism
Cow
Environment
Existing trauma (milking machine, heat
or cold, injury)
Teat end injury
Lowered immunity (following calving,
surgery)
Nutrition
Organisms
Environment

13. Process of infection
Organisms invade the udder through
teat canal
Migrate up the teat canal and colonize the
secretory cells
Colonized organisms produce toxic substances
harmful to the milk producing cells

14. The cow’s immune system send white blood cells
(Somatic cells) to fight the organisms
recovery
clinical
subclinical

15. How is mastitis diagnosed ?
Physical examination
Signs of inflammation
Empty udder
Differences in firmness
Unbalanced quarters
Cowside tests
California Mastitis test

16. How is mastitis diagnosed ?
Culture analysis
The most reliable
and accurate
method
costly ($ 5- 12)

17. How do you treat mastitis ?
Clinical mastitis
Strip quarter every 2 hours
Oxytocin valuable
high temp, give aspirin
Seek veterinary assistance
Treatment with penicillins
Subclinical mastitis
Questionable
Attitude adjustment !!!!!!
Don’t expect SCC to go down ASAP (4-5 weeks !)
Discard milk from treated cows (double jeopardy !)

18. THE 10 STEPS TO MASTITIS CONTROL
ONE: Prepare cows properly for milking
Udder preparation is pre-dipping with a dip labeled for
pre-dipping.Pre-dips lower the risk of new infections by
70% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pre-dips
Iodophors 0.0 -1.0 %
Chlorhexidine 0.2%
Quats 0.5%
LDBSA 0.2%
Hypochlorous acid
Bleach ?
Use single service paper towels, dry teats before
machine-application.

19. TWO: Have a good milking system
Milking equipment should be adequate in size,
functioning properly, and regularly cleaned and
maintained
Correctly use proper functioning milking machines and
properly prepare udders
Attach teat cups after thorough cleaning and drying of
teats
Provide stable vacuum
Check for slipping of teat cup liners
Shut of vacuum before removing teat cups.

20. THREE: Apply and remove machine carefully
Properly adjust to prevent liner slippage.
Remove machine when cow is milked out, shut off
vacuum at claw before removal.
FOUR: Dip each teat after each milking using a germicidal
teat dip.
Post-dips seal the teat ends temporarily for 6 to 8 hours
A must for long term mastitis control program
FIVE: Monitor your mastitis score (DHI-SCC, WMT) regularly.
Take action when significant increases occur.

21. SIX: Treat clinical cows, follow label recommendations,
treat aseptically. Withhold treated cows' milk from milk
supply.
SEVEN: Segregate chronic mastitis cows, milk them last,
cull when necessary.
cows with chronic mastitis serve as reservoirs of
organisms and could infect susceptible cows
EIGHT: Dry treat each quarter using partial insertion
techniques with an approved dry cow treatment at drying
off.
Cure rate is twice high as that during lactation
Lowers the risk of clinical and subclinical mastitis during
subsequent lactation

22. NINE: Keep cows clean, udders free from soil and
manure.
Fence off wet, swampy areas.
Keep free stalls and stanchions bedded properly.
Keep calving areas clean, properly bedded (straw
preferred).
TEN: Properly feed and care for cows.

23. Summary
Mastitis is primarily a management
problem
Mastitis can be controlled
Prevention programs work best when
correctly followed

24. Milking Procedures for
Quality Milk

25. Milking Procedures for Quality Milk
PREREQUISITES
Maintain clean, well ventilated bedded areas for cows
Segregate known infected cows. Milk them last or with
designated equipment
CMT all fresh cows by the 6th milking
Milk all treated cows last
Change rubber inflations every 60 days or 1000 cow
milkings whichever comes first

26. PREREQUISITES
Check the milking systems or units periodically for
function and reliability
Clip or singe the udder hair
Examine periodically teats and teat ends
Mastitis treatments should be done by one or two
persons and should be done after milking
Cloth towels should be washed after every use

27. Simple Steps
“Two trips to each cow will provide a
routine to Maxmize Milk Quality and
Parlor Performance”…. Dr. Andy Johnson
Step One………Strip and Predip
Step Two………Dry and Apply

28. Standardized Milking Procedures
Stanchion / Tiestall
Wear Gloves
Wipe off excess dry manure,
straw and bedding
Strip each teat into a
stripcup
Dip teats with an approved
pre-dip
Allow the pre-dip to react for
at least 30 sec.
Parlor
Wear Gloves
Wipe off excess dry
manure, straw and bedding
Strip each teat into a
stripcup
Dip teats with an approved
pre-dip
Dip 3-4 cows
Allow the pre-dip to react
for at least 30 sec.

29. Stanchion/ Tiestall
Clean teat and teat ends
using single paper towel or
individual towel cloth
The teats must be dried for
at least 15 sec
Attach milking machines
immediately after teats are
dried
Dip teats with post-dip
immediately after milking
Parlor
Return to the first cow and
clean teat and teat ends
using a single paper towel
or individual towel cloth
The teats must be dried for
at least 15 sec
Attach milking machines
immediately after teats are
dried
Dip teats with post-dip
immediately after milking
EACH STEP IS A CRITICAL POINT !!!!!!!

30. HACCP-based concepts for
implementing proper
milking procedures in
Pennsylvania

31. Steps involved in employing HACCP-based
concepts for establishing proper milking
procedures
STEP ONE
Educate owners and milkers about implementing a
standardized milking procedure (Benefits !!!!!!)
IF a dairy farm initiates and shows sustained interest
Establish ground rules
They will have to be proactive and adopt changes
TEAM EFFORT !!!

32. STEP TWO
Establish a team ( owner, milkers, veterinarian,
facilitator)
Mission statement
Goals and timeline
Written Procedures
Protocols
Critical Limits ( SCC > 250,000)
Recording Keeping
Milking time/milking
Bulk Tank Temp; end of 1 hr of milking
Sanitation
Schedule team meetings to review the process

33. STEP THREE
Train milkers and owners in implementing the
standardized milking procedure
STEP FOUR
Monitor the application of the standardized milking
procedure
Floor tests (each step is a critical point !)
Laboratory tests (SPC or BTSCC)
Monitor records
STEP FIVE
Establish corrective actions to be implemented if milk
quality critical limits have exceeded.

34. Bovine Mastitis
Prepared by:
Bhushan Jayarao MVSc, PhD, MPH
Extension Veterinarian
Department of Veterinary Science
Pennsylvania State University
University Park